THE tiny demountable building, beneath the shade of a mango tree on a lonely Kings Rd block, is the place where Brett Peter Cowan told undercover police he killed Daniel Morcombe, crown prosecutors yesterday told a jury.

A jury on the third day of a trial in the Supreme Court of Brisbane was told the raised building, which in 2001 was photographed featuring a small patio, curtains in the windows, plastic chairs and a rubbish bin out the front, was moved off the macadamia farm at Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast in 2006.

Farmer Drewe Gowen, who said the former tobacco farm had been in his family for 25 years, told the jury carpet from inside the demountable building was buried along with a neighbouring fibro shed that had to be knocked down.

Insp Arthur Van Panhuis testified police excavated a parcel of land near to the disused tobacco drying sheds on Mr Gowen’s property on August 30, 2011, retrieved the carpet and sent it away for testing in the hope it revealed some clue. There was none, Insp Van Panhuis said.

The jury was told police searchers and SES volunteers turned their attention to a sloping, heavily-treed neighbouring property, once used for sand mining.

“The searchers were on hands and knees, shoulder to shoulder, they had little garden implements … and they searched through the litter layer first for anything visible and then they dug down to 15cm,’’ Insp Van Panhuis said.

He said it was on the fourth day of meticulous searching, at 2.25pm on August 17, 2011, a partially-buried shoe was found, surrounded by fallen pine needles in the mud.

SES volunteer Ross Tennesse told the court he was searching on his hands and knees at an area called “the mud pit’’ when he saw something.

“Approximately two feet in front of me I saw what appeared to be a sandshoe sticking out of the ground,’’ he said.

After some leaf litter and soil was removed, the brand name “Globe’’ became visible on the side of the shoe, the court heard.

Sen-Constable Murray Scott Lyons, assistant to the search and rescue mission co-ordinator, told the jury searchers used metal detectors to look for a fob watch, clothing and a wallet, but nothing was found. He said they were shown animal bones that had been left out in the elements so they knew what to look for.

Over the following days until September 9, police found a second shoe they believed belonged to Daniel Morcombe and 17 fragments and pieces of bone, the jury heard.

Queensland Health specialist forensic pathologist Dr Peter Ellis gave evidence that the remains found included bones from the upper-arm, shoulder blade, parts of the pelvis, leg bones, five vertebrae from the lower back and some pieces that looked like ribs.

He said some of the bones showed tiny marks and scratches, possibly from animals or the excavation process.

“All the bones were of one particular type and that very, very strongly suggests that there’s only one person,’’ he said.

He said the bones likely came from a young, growing human between 10 and 15 years old but he could not identify the gender.

He said the skull was never found and it was not possible to form a view on how the person died.

The jury saw the incomplete skeleton believed to be Daniel’s laid out on a medical sheet, patiently rebuilt following two months of searching through bushland.

During cross-examination, barrister Angus Edwards, for Cowan, asked Dr Ellis how long it would take for a person to lose consciousness if their airway was compressed.

“If the interruption of supply of oxygen persists then you can say death will occur in a small number of minutes,’’ he said.

Crown prosecutor Glen Cash asked Dr Ellis how much force would be required if an adult male held a child in a “choke hold’’.

“That depends entirely on how it’s applied, whether it’s done in a twisting motion, or a bending motion,’’ he said. “Martial arts experts would tell you it’s easy to do, if you know how to do it.’’

Cowan, 44, has pleaded not guilty to murder, indecent treatment and misconduct with a corpse.